Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Acquires 37,991 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 126.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,065 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,991 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 114,442 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 54,151 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on LEVI shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:LEVI opened at $16.36 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.78. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $15.42 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.